Ohio EPA orders Texans to remove 13,000 scrap tires

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has ordered about 13,000 scrap tires removed from a former tire business at 1144 Poland Ave. by the end of April.

The EPA issued the order to Margaret Davis O’Sullivan of Austin, Texas, and Michael Davis of Abiline, Texas, offspring and heirs of Max Davis, who owned the property until his death in 2002.

A 2008 fire at that location burned thousands of tires. The following year, the EPA said it found the remnants of burned tires and thousands more tires unaffected by the blaze.

Until the site is cleaned up, the state agency said O’Sullivan and Davis must minimize the risk to public safety and health by reducing the size of the tire storage piles, establishing fire lanes and spraying for mosquitoes.

If the heirs can’t remove and dispose of the tires, the state agency said it may arrange for a cleanup and bill them for it.

Scrap tires pose a substantial fire threat, and the rainwater that ponds within them can serve as a mosquito-breeding area, the EPA said Friday.

Anyone with a complaint about tire dumping should call the state EPA at (877) 372-2621, or the city health department at (330) 743-3333.